A Flower Without A Name
by Karania Avalon
Summary: Sakura's life was a living nightmare, her parents didn't care for her. So when her parents sell her to Maxie as a slave her life changes dramatically. No flames.
1. Can My Life Get Any Worse?

Sakura O'Hara  
  
Personality: Sweet and kind with a strong desire to please. She just wants to be loved, and taken care of.  
  
Age: 15  
  
Eyes: brown  
  
Hair: brown hair  
  
~*~  
  
Author's note: At the beginning of the story she doesn't have a name as her parents never named her since they didn't want her. Okay that clear? Ok, good.**** **~*~** **A Flower Without a Name** Chapter 1 

"Can My Life Get Any Worse?"

My life has always been terrible; my parents don't treat me well.  Who am I, you might ask.  I don't really know myself for my parents have never named me.  My parents have always been saying that they wished that I didn't exist, and I only wished to one-day find a place where I can truly belong.  Exactly where that place is I'm not sure yet.  I'm not sure whether my parents would keep me if they were offered something of value for me.  I better go downstairs or my mom, if that's what I'm supposed to call her, starts yelling at me.  I walked out of my room, which is more like a closet in my opinion, and went downstairs.  As I was coming downstairs the doorbell rang.  

I ran into my mom and she said angrily, "Well, don't be all day about it!  Answer the door, NOW!"  

I hurried to do what my mom had told me to, and I opened the door.  There was a man I didn't know standing there. 

He asked me, "Is your parents at home?"

I replied, "Yes, they are."

My mom came to the door behind me, "Please come in."

"Thank you, ma'am."  He said as he entered. 

Once he was inside, I closed the door.

My mom glared at me, "Go get some lemonade, NOW!"

I ran out of the room to do as I was told, and a few minutes later I returned with the lemonade.

As I returned with the lemonade my mother asked the man, "May I ask who you are?"

The man replied, "I'm Maxie, I heard that you had a daughter that you weren't fond of, so I had an offer to make to you about her."

My mother's face brightened, and I carried the tray of lemonade over to the table and set it down.

"What about her?"  My mother asked.

I started to leave, but my mom whirled around and said, "STAY!"

I turned around and stood near the wall.

Now Maxie asked, "So she's good at taking orders isn't she?"

"That she is."  My mother replied.

"I could take her off your hands if you'd like.  Of course I'd give you something in exchange for her."  Maxie said.

"What sort of something."  My mother asked excitedly.

"I was thinking of paying you $500,000 if you would give her to me."  Maxie replied.

I was shocked; I looked at my mom hoping that she wouldn't do what I thought she was going to do.

"Done, she's yours."  My mom replied.

"Thank you."  Maxie said.

Maxie reached into his pocket and pulled out his checkbook and handed my mom a check in the said amount.

My mom turned to me and said, "Come here."

I walked over to my mom.

Now Maxie asked, "Does she have a name?"

My mom replied, "No, she doesn't.  We never thought that it was important to give her one."

"Okay, I'll take her anyway."  Maxie said.

Maxie stood up and took my hand.

"I'll take good care of her, don't you worry."  Maxie said.

My mother said, "I don't doubt that.  If you tell her to do something she will obey.  She has a strong desire to please, and you can use that to your advantage if you want."

"I'll do that.  Now we must get going."  Maxie said.

Maxie led me over to the door, and opened it and took me outside.  My mother bade Maxie goodbye, and Maxie led me off towards the Team Magma hideout.


	2. My First Day As A Slave

Chapter 2 

Maxie continued to lead the girl back to his base, and when they arrived Maxie took her inside and put her in a clean cell; then he went to get some things.  Maxie got a collar and a servant's outfit along with an apron for her, and he returned with them in a couple of minutes.  When he came back, he unlocked her cell and entered, and he placed the collar around her neck.

"That collar will make it so that you can't leave our base while you're wearing it, and I'm the only one who can take it off of you.  Maxie told her.

Maxie now handed her the servant's outfit he had gotten for her and he said, "Change into that."

Then he left her cell and closed the door, and turned away from her cell so as to give her some privacy.  

About 5 minutes later Maxie called to her and asked, "Are you changed yet?"

"Yes……."  The girl replied.

Maxie opened the door and came into her cell.  Maxie picked up the apron and he said, "Stand up."

The girl stood up, and Maxie tied the apron around her waist.  Now Maxie took her hand and led her out of her cell and up to his office.  Once in his office, Maxie had the girl sit down and he began to talk to her.

"You are my property and I'm your master, and you will obey me or there will be consequences.  You're my slave, and you will do as you're told from whoever asks you; or you will be punished.  I didn't buy you from your parents to let you run around doing whatever strikes your fancy.  So you will do as you're told." 

The girl was scared, she had hoped that her life would've gotten better once he had taken her away from her parents, but instead of that her life had gotten worse.

Now Maxie said, "It's time for you to earn your keep as a slave, you are going to clean, and don't think of trying to escape as that collar around your neck will make it impossible to leave our base."

Maxie led her out of his office and got her a sponge and a bucket of soapy water. 

Now Maxie said, "You are to clean the floors of the base, and you won't be fed until you're finished. Now get to work!"

The girl trembled, and took the sponge and dipped it into the water and began to clean.  Maxie left her to it as he figured that he didn't need to keep an eye on her every minute with that collar around her neck, which she couldn't remove.  She continued to clean, and it wasn't until 5 o'clock that she finally finished cleaning.

Maxie came to check on her as she was finishing and he said, "Good, you're finished.  Now, I have another job for you…….  You are going to cook dinner for the team, and your dinner will be whatever they don't eat."

Maxie led her to the kitchen, and she got to work preparing the meal for the team.  She didn't finish preparing the meal until 7 o'clock, and by that time the team had already seated themselves at the dinner table.  Maxie took her by the arm and dragged her into the room where they were.  The team stopped talking as soon as they saw the girl.

Tabitha spoke up, "Boss, who's the girl?"

Maxie replied, "This girl is my slave, if you need anything done you can make her do it for you if she's not already doing something.  That goes for all of you!  Grunts and Admins included.  Ask her to do something for you and she will obey, if she doesn't let me know and I'll punish her."

Now Tabitha said, "Cool, a slave.  This is going to be fun bossing her around."

The other grunts and Admins nodded in agreement.  Now Maxie sent her back into the kitchen to get the food, and it took her several trips before she had placed all the food on the table.

Maxie now said, "Go stand somewhere until I need you again."  Then he sat down at the head of the table to eat.

The girl stood near the door to the kitchen, and tried not to think about food or how hungry she was while the team was eating.  It was an hour before the team finished eating, and they all stood up and left the room, but Maxie stayed behind to instruct the girl.

"Stay."  Maxie commanded.

The girl stayed as she had been commanded to, and a few minutes later Maxie returned with a plate and a knife and fork for her along with a glass of water; he carried them over to the table and set them down.

"Come."  Maxie commanded.

The girl walked over to Maxie, and Maxie pulled out a chair for her.

"Sit."  Maxie commanded.

The girl sat down, and Maxie pushed her chair closer to the table.

Now Maxie served her some food before he commanded, "Eat."

The girl started to eat, and 15 minutes passed until she had finished eating.  Once she'd finished, Maxie pulled her chair back and commanded, "Stand."

The girl stood up, and Maxie took her hand and led her back to her cell.

When they arrived at her cell, Maxie opened the door and commanded, "In."

The girl walked reluctantly into the cell, and Maxie now closed the door behind her and locked it.

Maxie now said, "Rest.  You'll need it, for you'll have to work hard again tomorrow."

The girl sat down on the bed, and didn't answer so Maxie left her.  She laid down and pulled a blanket over herself and tried to relax, and she fell asleep in a couple of minutes.


	3. Commands and Threats Abound

Chapter 3 

The next morning, Maxie came back to her cell, and woke her up at 7 o'clock.  When the girl was awake, she looked at Maxie wondering what he was going to make her do.  The girl sat up, and moved herself so that her feet were on the ground and stood up.  Now Maxie reached for her hand, took it, and led her out of her cell.  

He took her back to the kitchen, and once in the kitchen he turned to her and said, "You are to prepare breakfast for the team.  Get to work!  You have a little under 2 hours until the team will be ready to eat, and that time will pass quickly."

The girl quickly got to work preparing the food, and she finished making it with 15 minutes to spare.  However, it took 15 minutes for her to set all of the food on the table, and as she was setting the last dish down on the table the team entered.  The girl retreated to the kitchen, but Maxie entered the kitchen and dragged her back into the dining room.

"Stay."  Maxie commanded.

The girl stayed and Maxie walked over to the table and sat down to eat.

Now Tabitha spoke up and asked, "Boss, do you have a certain job in mind for the slave girl because if you don't I could really use her help in organizing my room as it's a total pig-sty right now……."

Maxie spoke up, "I don't have anything in mind for her right now, so she will help you to organize your room.  However, she'll need to eat before she starts that."

"Boss, do you think that you could go ahead and feed her, so that she'll be done eating at the same time we are, so that we can get started a whole lot sooner?"  Tabitha asked.

"Of course, I'll get her some breakfast right now."  Maxie replied.

Maxie stood up, and walked into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with a plate.  When he came back with it he served some food onto it, and then he took it back into the kitchen and set it on a counter.  Then he pulled a stool up close to the counter, and he got her some silverware and he poured her a glass of orange juice before he walked back into the room to get the girl.  He walked back into the room, took the girl's hand and dragged her into the kitchen.

"Sit down on the stool."  Maxie commanded.

The girl walked over to the stool and sat down.

Now Maxie said, Eat, and don't move from where you are when you're finished, or you will be punished."

The girl nodded to let Maxie know that she understood, and Maxie left the room to continuing eating his meal.  Once he'd left the kitchen, the girl began eating.  15 minutes passed before the girl finished eating, and she began waiting for Maxie to come back to get her.  30 minutes passed before Maxie returned to the kitchen, and he walked over to the girl.

"Stand up."  Maxie commanded.

The girl stood up, and waited for Maxie to give her another order.

"Come."  Maxie commanded.

The girl walked over to Maxie, and he led her back into the dining room.  Tabitha was waiting for the girl so that he could get started and put her to work organizing his room.

"Here she is, Tabitha…….."  She'll do exactly as you tell her, so you can make her do anything and she will obey."  Maxie said.

Maxie looked at the girl and said, "You will do as he directs you.  If you don't then you will be punished.  Is that clear?"  Maxie asked the girl.

The girl nodded.

"Good, now go with him."  Maxie said.

Tabitha took her hand and led her to his room so that they could get to work in organizing it.


	4. The Messy Room

Chapter 4 

Tabitha led the girl to his room, and took her inside it.  Like he had said, it was a total pig-sty.  It looked like a bomb had gone off in his room.  The girl's eyes widened in shock, and Tabitha only chuckled at her expression on her face.

"As you can see, my room's a total mess…….  I'll start on one side of the room, and you'll start on the other.  If you run across something you don't know what to do with ask me and I'll tell you where to put it.  Okay, enough talk, let's get started!"

Then with that, Tabitha started attacking his side of the room, and the girl looked at the mess for a minute before she dove in too.  The girl ran across various articles of clothing, so she started a clothes pile.  A few minutes later, she unearthed a walkie-talkie.

She didn't know where to put it so she asked, "Where should I put this?"

Tabitha looked up and saw the object she was holding and said, "Good grief!  I've been wondering where that thing went…….  Hand it here."

The girl got up and took it over to him, and then she got back to work.  Several hours passed before Tabitha's room was fully organized.  There wasn't anything on the floor, and the rest of the stuff had been put in the dirty clothes hamper, or on shelves to get them off the floor.  After she'd placed the last object on the shelf, the girl sat down on the floor and waited for Tabitha to give her another order.

"Come here."  Tabitha commanded.

The girl stood up and walked over to him, and when she was close enough he took her hand and led her out of his room.  Tabitha took the girl up to Maxie's office, so that he could put her to work doing something else.  They arrived at the door to Maxie's office, and Tabitha knocked.

"Come in."  A voice from within the room called.

Now Tabitha reached out his free hand, opened the door and led the girl inside.

"Ah!  Tabitha, you're done organizing your room already?"  Maxie asked.

"Yes, I am.  The slave girl was a big help in getting it done in about half the time it would've taken me without her help."  Tabitha replied.

"Good, I'll take her from here."  Maxie said.

"Thank you, boss."  Tabitha said.

"No problem."  Maxie replied.

Now Tabitha turned and left Maxie's office.

Once he'd left, Maxie turned to the girl and said, "So far I haven't had to punish you, and I hope that it stays that way.  I really don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.  So you'd better obey!"

The girl nodded to let him know that she understood, but something was wrong with the girl.  She wasn't aware of it, but she had a fever.

"Good, now come along as its time for you to make lunch for the team."  Maxie said.

The girl walked over to Maxie, even though she didn't feel too well, and when she was close enough Maxie took her hand and led her out of his office and down to the kitchen.  Little did the girl know that something would happen that would make it impossible for her to make the meal for the team.


	5. Sick Days

Chapter 6 

Maxie and the girl walked to the kitchen, but on the way to the kitchen the girl collapsed.

"Get up!  You have work to do!"  Maxie yelled at her.

The girl struggled to get to her feet, but just couldn't.  Maxie saw that she was really trying to get to her feet, and he softened up a little.

"You're really trying, aren't you?"  Maxie asked her.

The girl nodded, and Maxie bent over and scooped her up into his arms.

"Let's get you to the infirmary……."  Maxie said.  

Maxie carried the girl up to the infirmary, and once there he carried her over to a doctor.  

The doctor looked at her for a minute before he said, "She's really sick, I'll need to keep her for a couple of days to make sure that she'll be all right."

Now Maxie replied, "Sure, keep her for several days, I want her to be in excellent health so that she can do the things I need done."

Now the doctor asked, "Is she a new recruit?"

"No, she's not, she's my slave."  Maxie replied. 

"I'll see to it that she gets well.  Would you please follow me with her so that we can get her to bed?"  The doctor said.

"Sure thing."  Maxie replied.

Maxie followed the doctor with the girl to a small room, and once in the room, the doctor pulled back the covers of the bed, and Maxie laid her down on the bed; then the doctor pulled the covers up around her.

Now Maxie said, "I need to go get one of the grunts to make lunch, since the girl's too sick to make it…….  Also I'll need to get some of the grunts to guard her while she's sick……."

"Okay, you do that, and I'll tend to the girl…….."  The doctor replied.

Maxie nodded and left the room.

~*~

Maxie walked down the hallway and on the way he ran into one of his grunts, who was goofing off instead of working.

"Josh, what on earth are you doing!?"  Maxie asked.

"I……  I was looking for the slave girl."  Josh replied.

"That's a lie, and I know it, so you'll be making lunch for the team today as the slave girl is up in the infirmary very sick."  Maxie replied.

"As you wish, boss…….."  Josh replied.

Josh walked with Maxie to the kitchen and once there, he got to work preparing the meal.  It was an hour before he finished preparing the meal, and by this time the rest of the team had already seated themselves.  It took Josh about 5 minutes to carry all of the food from the kitchen to the table.

Now Maxie entered the room, and when Tabitha saw him he asked, "Where's the little slave girl?  It seems weird that she's not here……"

Maxie replied, "She's up in the infirmary, she's very sick.  Shortly after you brought her to me after her task you gave her, she collapsed and couldn't get up.  By the way, I'm going to need 4 grunts to guard her while she's sick."

After he said that, 4 grunts automatically volunteered to guard her.

"Good, after lunch you will report to the infirmary where you'll guard her."  Maxie said.

"Yes, sir."  The grunts replied.

Now everyone served themselves some food and began eating, and it was an hour before everyone finished eating.  Then once everyone was finished, Maxie and the grunts, who had volunteered to guard her walked back up to the infirmary to find out the news was about the girl, and how long it would take for her to get well.  Maxie hoped that the girl would be okay, but he couldn't do anything else for her except talk to the doctor and keep her comfortable until she got well, and that was exactly what Maxie planned to do.


	6. Care Comes In Many Ways

Chapter 7 

Maxie and the grunts entered the infirmary and walked to the girl's room.  When they entered they saw that the doctor was still fussing over her, and they noticed that the girl was asleep.

"So, doctor, how is she?"  Maxie asked.

"Better, but she still needs to stay in bed for a while……"  The doctor replied.

"Do you know what illness she's sick with?"  Maxie asked.

"I have yet to identify it, but whatever her illness is it's making her very weak.  She couldn't even sit up without help."  The doctor replied.

"Oh, my……..  Well keep on trying to identify it, and try to help her get well."  Maxie said.

"I'll do that."  The doctor replied.

"By the way, these grunts……"  Maxie gestured behind him. "…….Will be guarding her for me, as I can't afford to let her try to escape or allow someone to rescue her."  Maxie said.

"Okay, as long as they stay out of the way and don't interfere with her treatment, I have no problem with them being here………"  The doctor said.

"Good."  Maxie said.

The grunts spread out throughout the room and moved so that the doctor could get to her easily.  Maxie now turned and left the infirmary to go get some work done, and the grunts continued to guard her.  A few minutes after Maxie left, the doctor left the room to go get a shot for her, and he returned with it in a couple of minutes.  When he returned with it, the doctor walked over to the girl and took her left arm and administered the shot.  The girl didn't stir when he gave her the shot.  Now the doctor left her room again and went to get a couple of things, and when he returned with them, he put the girl on an IV.  Once again, the girl didn't stir.

One of the grunts commented, "She must really feel bad if she didn't stir when she was given a shot or when she was put on an IV……"

"That's true…….  Hopefully she'll start to feel better soon……."  The doctor replied.

The doctor now left her room, and the grunts continued to guard her while she slept.  The girl appeared to be in a deep sleep, and it seemed like her dreams were peaceful.  The grunts stood around her and wondered how long it would take for her to get well, but only time would tell for sure.


	7. Good News

Chapter 8 

Several days passed since Maxie had first put the girl in the infirmary, she had started to get better and was almost well, but the doctor insisted upon keeping her for a few more days; something Maxie readily agreed to.  The girl was lying in bed awake, but the grunts wouldn't talk to her; they seemed to be having fun making her stay silent.  A few minutes later, the door to her room opened and Maxie entered and he walked over to the girl.  The girl was somewhat surprised to see that he had come to check on her, but she stayed quiet and didn't speak.

Maxie looked at her and said, "I've spoken with the doctor, and he said that you're almost well.  That's good news.  I've already decided what I want you to do when the doctor releases you from his care, but I'll tell you more about that when you're well."

Now Maxie looked at the grunts and said, "I have some things I need to do, but you will continue to guard her.  Am I making myself clear?"

The grunts all nodded.

"Good."  Maxie said.

Then he left, and the girl went back to sleep.

"Finally, she decided to go back to sleep……  I was getting tired of having her look at me every so often……."  One of the grunts said.

"True, but I don't think she was looking at you on purpose……."  Another grunt said.

"Aw, whatever……"

~*~

Several more days passed before the doctor declared the girl "fully well".  Then when this happened, Maxie returned to the infirmary and dismissed the grunts.  Then he pulled back the covers and lifted the girl into his arms and carried her back to her cell.

Maxie took her in her cell and laid her on her bed before he said, "Since you've done everything I've told you to without me having to tell you twice, I'm going to give you 3 additional days to rest before I put you back to work.  You are to stay in bed until I tell you otherwise.  Is that clear?"

The girl nodded.

"Good.  Now get some sleep, you'll need it……"  Maxie now left her cell, locking it behind him, and then he went back to his office.


	8. The Rescue

Chapter 9 

As soon as Maxie left, the girl pulled a blanket over herself and went to sleep.  Several days passed and in that time span, Maxie made sure that she was given something to eat.  It wasn't always Maxie who brought her food, but whoever was available, whether it was a grunt or Admin.  Then on the fourth day, Maxie came back to get her.

"Okay, rise and shine, child, you've got work to do!"

The girl sat up and then stood up and walked over to Maxie.  Maxie took her hand and led her out of her cell and told her about what he was going to make her do.

"You're going to clean the floors of the base again as they've gotten really dirty……."  Maxie now got the girl a bucket of soapy water and a sponge before he left her to it. 

The girl started cleaning and about an hour into it, she heard very sneaky sounding footsteps.  The girl dropped the sponge and hid behind the nearest object, which as it turned out was a medium sized cardboard box.  What the girl didn't know was that her apron wasn't completely out of sight.  It turned out that a group of Team Aqua members had invaded the base.  They came to the place where the girl had been cleaning, and stopped when they saw the bucket and the sponge.

"Obviously someone's been cleaning…….."  Archie said.

"Yes, and I know who!  There's a little girl hiding behind that cardboard box!"  A grunt said as he pointed to the box.

Several more grunts moved the box so that she was completely visible, and when they did the girl trembled in fear.  Archie saw that how afraid the girl was, and he tried to get her to trust him.

"Come here, child, I promise that I won't hurt you."  Archie said as he tried to coax the girl into coming to him.

The little girl trembled once more as she got up and came over to him.  Archie saw at once that she was indeed a little girl, and he couldn't figure out why she was wearing a servant's outfit.

So he asked her, "Why are you dressed like that?  Are you a part of Team Magma?"

"I'm not a part of it, but Maxie bought me and took me away from my parents and made me his slave.  There's nothing I can do about it……."

Now Archie said, "Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of here……."

"But the collar around my neck makes it impossible for me to leave the base……."

Now Archie said, "Well, I can fix that in no time.  I'll just need you to hold perfectly still so that I can cut the collar off you."

"Okay……."  

The girl held still and Archie took out his pocketknife and cut the collar off her.  

"There ya go.  Is that better?"  Archie asked her.

"Yes, that's a lot better……"

Now Archie looked at one of his Admins and said, "Thomas, do me a favor and take this girl back to our base.  Stay with her until we come back. Understood?"

"Yes, sir.  I understand."  Thomas said.

Thomas now took her hand and led her out of Team Magma's base and led her to their own, and once there he took her inside and tried to calm her down.

"It's okay…….  We're not going to hurt you.  We only want to help you…….."  Thomas said.

"I know, but I'm not used to having people care about me as I was shunned for most of my life."  The girl replied.

"What do you mean?"  Thomas asked her.

The girl explained everything, how her parents treated her, what they made her do, and a few other things.

"So basically when Maxie offered to take you away from them, they willingly gave you to him, is that it?"  Thomas asked.

"Yes, that's exactly what happened."

"So you don't have anywhere to go, since your parents kicked you out of the house when they gave you to Maxie, is that correct?"  Thomas asked.

"Yes, again that's exactly what happened.  I don't know what to do………"  

The girl buried her face in her hands, and Thomas walked over to her and said, "I think we can help you……."

The girl looked up and asked, "What do you mean?"

Thomas replied, "Well you could allow us to put you in an orphanage to be adopted by another family, or you could join our team."

The girl looked puzzled so Thomas added, "You don't have to decide right now, you should think on that…….  I will however need to tell our boss about this as he's the one who would deal with this sort of thing……."

"I deal with what sort of thing?"  Archie asked as he entered the room.

"Oh, boss you're back!  Well the girl told me that she didn't know what to do since her parents kicked her out of her house."  Thomas replied.

"They did?  Don't worry I'll take care of it……."  Archie said.

A bunch of grunts, who had just entered started bombarding the girl with questions.  The girl tensed up and didn't know what to do.

"For heavens sake!  Leave the girl alone!  Can't you see that she's a little afraid and shy?"  Archie said.

Now the grunts backed off and left the girl alone.

"Thomas, you go back to your group, and I'll see to the girl."  Archie said.

"Yes, sir."  Thomas said.

Now Thomas and his group of grunts left the room, and Archie took the girl's hand and led her up to his office.  Once in his office, Archie walked over to his desk and sat down.

Then he said, "Please have a seat."

The girl sat down in the chair that faced his desk and began waiting to hear what he was going to say.


	9. A New Opportunity

Chapter 10 

"So, is it true that your parents kicked you out of your house when they gave you to Maxie?"  Archie asked her.

"Yes, or it certainly seemed like it when Maxie offered my mom something in exchange for me……."

"So in other words, that's a definite yes."  Archie said.

"I guess so…….."  The girl said.

Now Archie said, "Well, there's two things you could do.  You can either allow us to put you in an orphanage, or you can join my team.  Let me tell you a little more about our team……   Our group is dedicated to fighting evil, we work with the police to keep Team Magma in check; so if you joined you'd be doing something perfectly legal, therefore you wouldn't have to worry about getting in trouble with the law.  That's about all I can tell right now, as I don't want to put you in danger by telling you any of our plans."

The girl seemed to be considering what Archie had told her, so Archie said, "One more thing, our group is close-knit, meaning that everyone knows each other and is friendly with each other."

The girl considered this too, so Archie asked her, "How old are you?"

"I'm 15."  The girl replied.

Now Archie asked, "Are you a trainer yet?"

"No, my parents never would let me become one……"

Now Archie said, "I'll tell you what, if you join my team I'll help you become a trainer.  So what do you say?"

The girl hesitated for a minute before she said, "Okay……"

"So you'll join?"  Archie asked her.

The girl nodded.  Now Archie said, "Good, welcome to our family.  Now if you'll come with me, I'll get you a uniform so that you can get out of that outfit you're currently wearing."

Archie and the girl stood up, and Archie took her hand and led her to a room where he got her a uniform.  Then he took her to a girl's room that she would be sharing with several other girls, and he handed her the uniform.

"This will be you room, you'll be sharing it with several other girls.  Please go inside and change into that uniform.  Then bring your old outfit to me."  Archie said.

The girl nodded and entered the room, she changed into the uniform, picked up her old outfit, and then she left the room to go meet back up with Archie.  Archie saw that she hadn't been sure how to put on the bandana so he took it from her, and tied it around her head.

"There you go……..  Come on, we need to get you a pokemon."

Archie led her to a pokemon storage room where he took a Mudkip's pokeball off the shelf and handed it to her.

"That's a Mudkip, it's a water pokemon.  Our team mostly deals in water pokemon, but you can have other types as well.  However, water pokemon will make up the majority of your team.."

Now Archie asked her, "What's your name, child?"

"I……  I don't have one…….  My parents never named me……."

"They didn't?  Then I'll give you a name."  Archie said.

Archie thought for a minute while trying to come up with the perfect name for her, and after thinking for a minute he thought of one, so he said, "Your name will be Sakura O'Hara.  There that's better."

"Thank you."  Sakura said.

"You're welcome."  Archie said.

Just then, Thomas entered the storage room and saw the girl.  

"You joined!  Welcome!"  Thomas exclaimed.

Now Archie said, "Yes, she did join.  It took me a while to convince her before she decided to join, by the way, Thomas, do you mind adding Sakura to your group?"

"I don't mind at all.  Welcome to the group, Sakura."  Thomas said.

Now Archie said, "It's going to take her a little while to get used to her name as she isn't used to it.  Her parents never gave her a name, so I just gave her one.  Give her some time to adjust and be patient with her, help to guide her, and show her what she needs to do, and she should catch on rather quickly.  Oh, and help her train her pokemon as she'll need to be able to defend herself from Team Magma."

"I'll do that…….  If we're ambushed, I'll keep her close to me until she's experienced enough to deal with them with the rest of the group."  Thomas said.

"Good."  Archie said.

Now Archie turned to Sakura and said, "Sakura, the only thing you'll need to do is listen to Thomas and do as he directs you, he's only going to help you…….  He won't do what Maxie did when he ordered you around, he's only going to try to teach you everything you need to know to become a great agent in Team Aqua."

Sakura nodded to indicate that she understood.

Now Thomas said, "One more thing, we'll all take care of you, you'll be a part of our Team Aqua family.  You'll never have to be alone again."

Sakura smiled, things were starting to look up for her; he future was looking bright.  

Now Archie said, "He's right, we'll all take care of you.  You're like a daughter to me, and soon you'll be close to others and they to you."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind."  Sakura replied.

Now Archie said, "Thomas, be sure to guide her, and help her catch more pokemon too."

"I'll do that."  Thomas replied.

Archie turned back to Sakura and asked, "Sakura, is there a certain pokemon that you've always dreamed of having?"

"Yes, I've always dreamed of having a Skitty."  Sakura replied.

"Then we'll help you catch one along with a Poocheyena, and don't worry we'll help you assemble your team so that you'll be a strong trainer."  Thomas said.

Now Archie said, "Sakura, I think a Milotic would suit you perfectly.  Thomas will help you find one, won't you Thomas?"

"Absolutely, I think that one would suit you too."  Thomas said.

Now Archie said, "Thomas, you might want to map out her team so you'll know which pokemon you need to look for when you take her out with you."

"I'll be sure to do that."  Thomas said.

Now Archie turned back to Sakura and asked, "Sakura, I almost forgot to ask you something……...  When is your birthday?"

"My birthday is on March 27th."  Sakura replied.

"Oh, my gosh!  That's next week!"  Thomas exclaimed.

"It sure is it'll be her 16th birthday.  We'll have to be sure that we get you something to celebrate it.  By the way, Sakura have you ever had a birthday party?"  Archie said and asked.

"No……..  My parents never thought it was important to celebrate my birthday………"  Sakura replied sadly.

"Cheer up, we'll throw you one, and we'll make sure that you get some gifts too."  Archie said.

"Looks like we need to start looking for birthday presents."  Thomas said.

"It sure does."  Archie agreed.

"Boss, what about Sakura?  Should we keep her at base until after her birthday?"  Thomas asked.

"Yes, we'll keep her at our base until after her birthday, as I want her to start training that Mudkip I just gave her."  Archie replied.

"Okay, so she'll work on raising her pokemon's level, and we'll look for birthday gifts."  Thomas said.

"Right…….  Hang on, I just thought of a good team for her…….  How about a Staryu, a Mudkip, a Feebas, a Skitty, a Poocheyena, and a Spheal?"  Archie asked.

"What do you think, Sakura?"  Thomas asked her.

"That team sounds good to me."  Sakura replied.

"Good, then we've got your team mapped out."  Archie said.

"I know what I want to get her now, I just thought of it."  Thomas said.

Now Archie said, "It's starting to get late, so let's all get something to eat, and then hit the sack.  By the way, Sakura, I have a little nightdress that I need to give you, but I'll get that for you after we eat."  Archie said.

"Okay."  Sakura replied.

"Come on, let's get a bite to eat, I'm starved."  Archie said.

"I totally agree, and I'm sure Sakura's hungry too.  Aren't you Sakura?"  Thomas said and asked.

Sakura nodded and Archie smiled, then together they walked to the dining room.  When they enter the room, Sakura was greeted continuously by many members, who were overjoyed to have a new friend.  Sakura was a little uneasy about all the attention, but she warmed up to it over a short period of time.  Some of the grunts beckoned for her to come and sit with them, which she did.

Now Archie said, "You've all seen, Sakura, our newest member, she only just joined today so she's still fairly new as to how we do things; so be patient with her and help her learn what she needs to do."

The other grunts nodded and smiled at Sakura.  Now everyone began eating, and some of the grunts began talking to her.

"I'm so glad that you decided to join!  We need more girls in our team."  One grunt said.

"Yeah, and you're at the same rank as us."  Another grunt said.

"Uh…….  Rank?"  Sakura asked.

Now the first grunt replied, "Everyone starts out as a grunt when they first join.  Then over time many people become Admins.  There are other ranks too, but those are the most common ones."

"Okay, I get it now."  Sakura said.

Everyone continued eating, and when the meal was over Archie took her to get a nightdress.  Then he took her back to her room.  Her roommates weren't in there yet, so Sakura changed into her nightdress and got into the bed that didn't have anyone's stuff on it, and went to sleep.


	10. What A Surprise!

Chapter 11 

The next day, Sakura was gently shaken awake by one of her roommates.

"Wake up, sweetie, breakfast's in ten minutes."

Sakura shot up, "Oh, my!"

"Don't worry, you haven't missed it.  By the way, I haven't seen you around before, are you new to the team?"  Her roommate asked.

"Yes, I'm new.  I only just joined yesterday."  Sakura replied.

"Awesome!  I'm Rebecca, who are you?"

"I'm Sakura."

"Anyways, you should get dressed.  The boss isn't too patient in the morning until after he's had his morning coffee."  Rebecca said.

Sakura climbed out of bed, and changed back into her uniform.

"It still feels weird to be wearing this……"  Sakura said.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it.  Come on, let's go to breakfast."  Rebecca said.

Sakura and Rebecca walked to breakfast, and when they were almost there they ran into Thomas.  Well, Rebecca did anyways.

"Oh my gosh!  I'm so sorry!  I didn't mean to crash into you!"  Rebecca said ashamed.

"I know you didn't, I'm not mad; I know that it was just an accident."  Thomas said.

"Thank you for understanding……"  Rebecca said.

"No problem."  Thomas said.

Then he said, "By the way, how are you doing, Sakura?  You seemed like you were a little frightened yesterday.  Were you a little nervous yesterday?"

"I'm fine, I was a little nervous yesterday."  Sakura replied.

"I see, and why were you nervous?"  Thomas asked.

"I was nervous because I wasn't used to people liking me due to my past experiences."  Sakura replied.

"Oh, that's right…….  You told me the whole story yesterday when I asked you."  Thomas said.

"Am I missing something here?"  Rebecca asked.

"She hasn't told you?"  Thomas asked.

"Nope, she sure hasn't."  Rebecca replied.

Thomas looked at Sakura, "Do you mind if I tell her?"

"Go ahead, I don't mind."  Sakura replied.

"Okay……  Well, Rebecca, Sakura had a less than perfect childhood.  Her parents didn't want her so they didn't name her."

"Then where did she get her name?"  Rebecca asked.

"Archie named her; anyways Maxie came to her house and bought her from her parents and took her back to his base and made her his slave.  He treated her well enough to keep her alive, but he made her do pretty much everything for him, and he also put a collar around her neck that made so that she couldn't leave his base.  She was pretty much trapped with no hope of a better life before we invaded her base and rescued her.  I think you can figure out the rest from there."  Thomas said.

"Okay, thanks for filling me in."  Rebecca said.

"Oh, and Sakura, if you ever need to talk, I'll be glad to listen to you.  You need to get over your fear if you want to do well in this team, and I'll be more than happy to help you do that."  Thomas said.

"Okay, I'll remember that."  Sakura said.

"Let's go in for breakfast."  Thomas said.

Thomas went inside and Rebecca and Sakura were about to follow suit when Archie tapped Sakura gently on the shoulder.

"Sakura, I need to ask you something, it will only take a minute."  Archie said.

"Okay, what is it?"  Sakura asked shyly.

"I'll save a spot for you."  Rebecca said.

"Okay, thanks Rebecca."  Sakura said.

"No problem."  Rebecca replied as she entered the room.

Archie took Sakura's hand before he said, "Sakura, you've had the saddest childhood I've ever heard of……  So I thought of something that might help to improve your life."

"You did?  What is it?"  Sakura asked, a little braver this time.

"Sakura, you've never really had a family, haven't you?"  Archie asked her.

"I suppose you could say that to be true……"  Sakura said.

Archie was solemn, "Sakura, due to that fact I have one question for you.  It's a big one so you should really think on it before you give me an answer."

"Okay."  Sakura replied.

"My question is this; Sakura do you mind if I were to adopt you?"

Sakura was shocked, "You want to adopt me?"

Archie nodded, "Yes, you're a sweet girl, and you deserve to have a family that loves you.  I can give you that if you'll let me.  Would this be okay with you?"

"That would be fine with me."  Sakura replied.

"So you'll let me adopt you?"  Archie asked.

"Yes."  Sakura replied.

"Oh, come here you!"

Sakura came to Archie and he hugged her.  "I'll work on legalizing this after breakfast."  Archie told her.

Now Archie and Sakura entered the room to eat breakfast.  The team turned around when they entered.  Sakura walked over to the seat Rebecca had saved for her and sat down, and Archie walked to the head of the table.  

Before he sat down he said, "Can I have your attention for a moment, please.  I have a good announcement to make, it concerns Sakura."

"Yes, do go on."  An Admin by the name of Andrew said.

Archie nodded and continued, "I'm going to adopt Sakura."

"Awesome!"  The team exclaimed.

Now Archie said, "Sakura's had a rough childhood because her parents shunned her and pretended that she didn't exist.  In fact they name, it was I who finally gave her a name."

"No wonder she's so shy……."  An Admin by the name of Tanya said.

"Yeah, poor child, hopefully we can help her get over that so that she can have a new life."  Thomas said.

Everyone murmured in agreement.

Now Archie said, "Oh, and by the way, Sakura's 16th birthday is next week.  So you might want to consider getting her something to help celebrate it."

Everyone turned and looked at Sakura, and smiled at her.

"Okay, let's eat."  Archie said.

Now everyone served themselves some food and began eating.  When everyone finished eating, Archie looked at Sakura and said, "Sakura, why don't you go get your Mudkip so that you can start training it."

"Okay."  Sakura said.

Then with that Sakura hurried off to get her Mudkip so that she could start training.


	11. An Unwanted Injury

Chapter 12 

A few minutes later, Sakura reappeared with her poke ball in her pocket.  She ran into Thomas on the way back.  "Oh, Sakura I just saw Archie, he asked me to take you to the training arena and to help you.  He went to work on getting things legalized for you to be his daughter."  Thomas said.

"Okay."  Sakura said a little timidly.

"Oh, come on now..  I don't bite."

Sakura smiled at that.  "That's more like it, you should try to smile more it suits you."  Thomas said.  Sakura nodded.

There was now a cry of  "Look out!  Wild pokemon on the loose!"  A Mightyena came barreling down the hallway, crashed into Sakura, knocked her to the ground causing her to land on her left arm; then it leapt over her and kept running.

"Are you okay?" Thomas asked concerned.

"I think so.  By the way, did you get the license plate on that Mightyena?"

Thomas laughed, "Oh, you're a treasure all right.  I see now why Archie has his eye out for you now."  Thomas knelt beside Sakura and examined her left arm, "This might hurt a bit...  I'm going to see if your arm's broken.  Okay?"

"Okay."  Sakura replied softly.

Thomas gently probed her arm with his fingers, "Does this hurt?"

"A little bit, but I think I can move it."  Sakura replied.

"Then try to move it."  Thomas replied.

Sakura lifted her arm and cried out in pain.  "You've definitely sprained it..  One thing's for sure, you're not leaving the base anytime soon; you'd be easy pickings for a Team Magma member since you're injured, and we don't want that."  Thomas said.

Sakura nodded, then Thomas helped her up.  Just then the Team Aqua members who had been chasing the Mightyena showed up.  "What happened to her?"  A grunt named Amelia asked.

"That Mightyena ran right into her, knocked her down, and caused her to sprain her arm."  Thomas replied.

"Ow..  That had to hurt...  The boss isn't going to be happy that she got hurt...."  An Admin named Edith said.

"That's true, but it was an accident.  Her arm was only sprained so it should heal rather quickly."  Thomas said.

"You might want to get her arm bandaged so that it can heal."  Edith said.

"I'll do that, come along Sakura."  Thomas and Sakura walked through the base to the infirmary, and once there Thomas took her inside and a doctor hurried over to see what was wrong.

"What's wrong with her?"  The doctor asked, when he saw Sakura cradling her left arm.

"I think she sprained her arm.  A Mightyena was running wild through the base and it ran into her knocking her down and she landed on her arm."  Thomas replied.

The doctor probed her arm with his fingers before he said, "You were right, her arm is sprained.  I'll have to bandage it, and she'll need to keep her arm in a sling until her arm heals."

"Okay, you do that."  Thomas said.

The doctor left the room and returned a few minutes later with the bandages and a sling; he set the sling on the table then he walked over to Sakura.  "Hold out your arm, sweetheart, and I'll bandage it so that it won't hurt anymore."  The doctor said.

Sakura held out her arm and the doctor bandaged it, then he carefully slid her arm into the sling.  The doctor positioned the sling in its proper place before he said, "I think you should tell Archie that she got hurt, he has a right to know what's going on with his members."

"Okay, I'll tell him."  Thomas replied after a pause.  Thomas glanced sideways at Sakura as he thought, "Gosh she's cute...  I can't believe she got hurt...  One thing's for sure, she's unlike any other girl I've met so far."  Thomas now took Sakura's hand and led her out of the infirmary and up to Archie's office.

~*~

Author note:  Just how is Archie going to react when he hears that Sakura, the girl he was going to adopt, was hurt?  Stick around and you'll find out.


	12. How Do You Do This?

Chapter 13 

Sakura and Thomas walked up to Archie's office, and Sakura seemed nervous.  "Oh, calm down, he won't bite."  Thomas said.

"I know; it's just a little hard for me to adjust to meeting new people."  Sakura said.

"That's understandable."  Thomas said nodding.

They arrived at the door to Archie's office, and Thomas knocked.  

"Come in."  Archie called.

Thomas opened the door and led Sakura inside, and Archie's eyes immediately fell on Sakura.  "What happened to her!"  Archie exclaimed.

"A Mightyena was running wild through our base, and it crashed into her, thus knocking her to the ground and causing her to land on her arm."  Thomas replied.

"Sakura, come here, sweetheart."  Archie said.

Sakura walked over to Archie, and Archie stood up and gently pulled her into his arms and held her for a minute before he let her go.  Archie felt her poke ball in her pocket while he was hugging her so he said, "Oy!  I forgot!  I need to give you something to hold your poke balls.  Let me get that for you, sweetheart……."  Archie stood up and walked over to a cabinet and took out a girl's belt for poke balls.  Then he walked back over to Sakura and handed it to her.

Sakura tried to put it on one-handed, but didn't have any luck in doing so, so Archie took it from her and placed it around her tiny waist.  "There, that's better……  Put your poke ball on there now, sweetheart."  Archie said.

Sakura reached into her pocket and took out her poke ball and attached it to her belt.

"That's much better."  Archie said.

Archie now turned to Thomas, "Thomas what did the doctor have to say about her arm?"

"The doctor said that her arm was sprained and that it would have to stay in a sling for several days."  Thomas replied.

"Poor girl……  I would've said 'my poor daughter', but it's not official yet…….  Sakura, you still want me to adopt you, right?  I just want to make sure before I sign this last form."  Archie asked thoughtfully.

"It's okay with me, if you want to adopt me."  Sakura replied.

"Good."  Archie now signed the last form.  "I just need for you to sign on the line here."  Archie said pointing to the line.

Sakura walked over to his desk and signed the form.

"Great, now I can file these through the legal office, and we should hear back from them soon.  I'll see you later, sweetheart.  Thomas, be sure to help her train her first pokemon."  Archie said.

"I will, boss."  Thomas replied.

Archie now picked up the papers and left his office with them, and Sakura and Thomas followed shortly after him heading in the opposite direction towards the training room.  Sakura and Thomas arrived in the training room and Thomas quickly began helping Sakura train her Mudkip.

~*~

Meanwhile, Archie had just filed the papers through the legal office.

"Thank you, sir, you'll be hearing back from us in three days."  A staff member said.

"Okay, thank you."  Archie said.

"No problem."  The staff member replied.

Archie now left the office and walked back to his base.

~*~

Back in the training room, Thomas and Sakura were still at it.

"Uh, Mudkip, use Water Gun."  Sakura said uncertainly.

Mudkip fired off a blast of water that got Thomas all wet.

"Oops, sorry Thomas…….  I didn't mean to get you all wet."  Sakura said ashamed.

Thomas shook the water off himself before he said, "Don't worry about it, I needed a bath anyway…….  Try again, and tell Mudkip to aim it at the wall this time."

"Sakura tried again, "Mudkip, use Water Gun on the wall."

Mudkip fired off another blast of water and this time it hit the wall and not Thomas.

"Looking good."  Thomas said while still dripping water.

Thomas continued to coach Sakura until lunchtime, and after lunch they went back to the training room and Thomas continued to help her train her pokemon.  Thomas had dried out somewhat, but his clothes were still damp.  Sakura's Mudkip had grown to level twelve after all the training she had done before lunch.  When dinnertime rolled around, Sakura recalled her pokemon and called it quits for the day.  Thomas and Sakura now went to go eat dinner.  Thomas and Sakura entered just as Archie was about to make an announcement.

"Good, I was wondering where you two were."  Archie said.

"Sorry boss, we got side-tracked while we were training."  Thomas said.

"I see, well you're here now and haven't missed anything, and that's the important thing; so please take your seats at the table."  Archie said.

Sakura and Thomas went opposite ways, Sakura went to sit with the grunts and Thomas went to sit with the other Admins.

"Now that everyone's here, I have an announcement to make concerning Sakura."

"What is it?"  An Admin named Jonas asked.

"I've filed all the paperwork at the legal office for Sakura to be my daughter."  Archie replied.

"Really!?  That's great news!"  Everyone exclaimed.

One of the grunts clapped Sakura on the back kinda roughly, which caused her to cry out sharply, so Archie said, "Tom, be gentle with Sakura, she's small and fragile compared to you."

"Yes, boss."  Tom turned to Sakura, "Sorry about that, Sakura, I got carried away."

"All is forgiven."  Sakura said.

Tom patted her lightly on the back before he turned back to his meal.  Everyone was eating by this point, and Sakura was having a bit of trouble eating with only one hand, but she was getting it done, though it was taking her a lot longer.  When the meal ended, Sakura started to leave with the others, but Archie, her soon-to-be father, took her by her hand and led her away from the throng.

"Sakura, since you're hurt, I'm going to place you with Edith, so that she can help you while your arm's hurt.  I think you can see why because there'll be some things that'll be hard for you to perform in the morning without help.  I've had a trundle moved into Edith's room for you.  Let's go get your nightgown then I'll take you to Edith's room.

Sakura and Archie walked to the room Sakura shared with Rebecca, and got her nightgown.  Then Archie took Sakura to Edith's room, and he knocked on the door.

Edith answered it, "Oh boss, glad to see you again, and this must be little Sakura."  Edith petted Sakura on the head before she said, "Come on in, Sakura, I really want to get to know you."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura."  Archie said as he walked off.

Sakura entered Edith's room, and Edith closed the door behind her.

"Now let's get you ready for bed, Sakura.  Let me help you change, okay?"  Edith said.

"Ok, Edith……"  Sakura said.

Edith smiled, "Okay, I'll help you."  

Edith helped Sakura change out of her uniform, removing her belt and her sling in the process, and into her nightgown.  Then Edith pulled back the covers on the trundle and helped Sakura, "Careful, sweetie, you don't want to hurt your arm more."

"Okay."  Sakura replied laying her head back into her pillow.

"So Sakura, can I ask you what your parents were like?"  Edith asked.

"They were really mean, they bossed me around without a please or thank you, but it would be a hard call if I were to compare their care to Maxie's care."  Sakura replied.

"Just out of curiosity, how did Maxie treat you?"  Edith questioned.

"Slightly better than my parents did, but I was forced to be a slave against my will.  As long as I did as he asked, he treated me well.  He said that he'd hurt me if I didn't."  Sakura replied.

"You don't deserve to have had a rough childhood, you deserved to have a happy one……."  Edith said.

"Yeah, I wish that had been the case."  Sakura replied.

"Well, look at it this way, you'll soon have a new father who you know loves you.  I've never seen Archie so happy, you've brought out the best in him, Sakura."  Edith said.

Sakura nodded, then yawned.

Edith smiled, "Now get some sleep, I'll see you again in the morning.  I've got something I need to do, but I'll still be here if you need me, Sakura."

"Okay."  Sakura said closing her eyes.

"Sleep well, Sakura."  Edith said.

Sakura didn't answer for she had already fallen asleep.  Edith finished what she needed to do and fell asleep shortly after Sakura.


	13. A Surprise Meeting

Chapter 14 

The next morning, Sakura awoke to the beeping of Edith's alarm clock.  Edith jumped out of bed and got dressed then she went to help Sakura.

"Good morning, Sakura, its time to get up.  Let me help you get dressed, sweetheart."  Edith said.

"Okay that'll be fine."  Sakura replied sleepily.  

Edith helped Sakura crawl out from under her covers; then she helped Sakura change out of her nightgown and into her uniform.  Once Sakura was dressed, Edith fastened her belt around her waist, before she took the sling and slid Sakura's arm into it and positioned the sling in the proper place.  Now Sakura and Edith walked to breakfast and to Sakura's surprise she didn't see Thomas until she entered with Edith.  However, Thomas was talking to another Admin about some strategy so Sakura was ignored temporarily.  Sakura walked to the end of the table to where the rest of the grunts were and found that there wasn't a place for her.  So Edith walked over to her and said sweetly, "You can sit next to me, sweetheart."

Sakura was very nervous since she didn't know many of the Admins, but she walked with Edith to the middle of the table.  Thomas turned around and saw Sakura with Edith.  "Thomas do you mind if Sakura sits next to you since there isn't a place for her at the foot of the table?"  Edith asked Thomas.

"Of course not, a seat's a seat, you don't always have to sit with people of your same rank if you don't want to.  Have a seat, Sakura."  Thomas replied warmly.

Sakura sat down next to Thomas and Edith sat down next to Sakura.  The Admin, named Andrew, on the other side of Thomas looked at Sakura, "So, Sakura your birthday's in two days, are you excited?"

"I guess you could say that."  Sakura replied.

"Hang on…….  Did you ever have a birthday party?"  Andrew asked.

Sakura looked surprised that he asked as she replied, "No, my parents never would celebrate my birthday, the only presents I ever received on my birthday were hand-me-down items like old shirts, socks, skirts, ect."

"That's terrible….."  Andrew replied.

"Yeah."  Sakura replied.

"Well, you can be sure that I'll get you something."  Andrew said.

"So will I."  Edith added.

"As will I."  Thomas piped in.

"Thanks, you guys."  Sakura replied.

"No problem."  Edith, Thomas, and Andrew said together.

Thomas leaned over and whispered something in Andrew's ear that Sakura couldn't hear.  Andrew nodded and Sakura wondered what the heck was going on.  Just then, Archie entered and he walked over to the head of the table, and when he didn't see Sakura at the end of the table, he looked around and finally found her next to Edith.  "There you are, Sakura……  Dang, we really need a bigger table, this one's getting too small."  Several other people nodded in agreement.  "Okay, let's eat."  Archie said.

Everyone served some food onto their plates, while Sakura struggled to hold the food dish still and spoon some food out of it at the same time.  She wasn't having much luck, for every time she tried to move the food from the dish to her plate, it would fall back into the dish making her even more frustrated.

"Thomas, I think Sakura needs help."  Andrew said after he had watched Sakura try to move some food to her plate without any success.

"Let me help you, Sakura."  Thomas said.

Sakura let go of the spoon so that Thomas could help her.  Thomas reached over once Sakura had let go of the spoon and spooned some of the food onto her plate.  "Okay, anything else you want to eat?"

Sakura pointed to the sausage, and Thomas added three of them to her plate.  "Want any toast or bacon?"  Thomas asked.

"Sure."  Sakura replied.

Thomas moved a slice of toast and three pieces of bacon onto Sakura's plate.  Sakura now had sausage, scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon on her plate.  "Want some milk or orange juice?"  Thomas asked.

"Milk please."  Sakura replied.

Thomas took the pitcher of milk and poured some of it into her glass.

"Thanks, Thomas."  Sakura said. 

"No problem, I was glad to help, and don't worry your arm should be better either by tomorrow or the next day.  Now let's eat, you want to keep your strength up."  Thomas replied.

"Okay."  Sakura replied.

Thomas went back to eating his meal, and Sakura began eating hers.  Twenty minutes passed before everyone including Sakura finished eating, and once everyone finished, Archie stood up and addressed the table, "Okay, I would like everyone to stay here since I have some things to go over with you.  However, Sakura you may be excused as you really need to train your pokemon some more."

"Lucky girl."  One grunt muttered.

Sakura stood up and left the room and walked to the training arena.  Once she was gone, Archie stuck his head out the door and said, "Good, she went to train……  Now I can tell you what I need to tell you.  Okay, as you probably know, Sakura's birthday's in two days.  We want this birthday to be special for her since her life is starting over again.  Hopefully all the paperwork will have fallen through and I can officially call her 'my daughter'.  Okay, any ideas on what we should get her?"  Archie asked.

Tanya spoke up, "Boss, I think it would be good if you gave her a backpack that was filled with trainer supplies, like potions, revives, full heals, a sleeping bag, and whatever else you see fit."

That's a good idea, Tanya, I'll do that; if she's going to be my little girl I'm going to make sure that she has everything she needs to be comfortable and feel safe.  So of course she's going to get a backpack and trainer supplies.  I might throw in something else as well."

"I'm sure she'd like that."  Thomas added.

Archie nodded, "Okay, any other ideas?"

Now Tom, one of the grunts spoke up, "What if we gave her some more pokemon so that won't be ill prepared when she goes out with her group leader?"

"That would be me, and yes I think it would be a wise idea for her to have more than one pokemon before she goes out with me."  Thomas said.

"Thomas is right, having more than one pokemon will benefit her immensely.  We've mapped out her team already so here's what's available for you to give her.  You can give her a Feebas, a Staryu, or a Spheal.  Thomas, since you're her group leader would you like to pick out of those first?"  Archie remarked.

"I would like to give her a Feebas."  Thomas replied.

"Good choice, Thomas, I'm sure she'd like that.  Okay, anyone else?"

Now Tom said, "I'll give her a Spheal, if that's okay."

"Anyone else?"  Archie asked.

Rebecca spoke up, "I'll give her a Staryu."

"Okay, now can anyone think of anything else that might be good to give her?"  Archie asked.

"Wait!  I thought of something."  Andrew said.

"Yeah, so did I."  Edith said.

"What did you think of?"  Archie asked.

"I could get her a light blue hair ribbon, so that she won't always have to wear it down."  Andrew said.

"Good idea, and what about you Edith?"  Archie asked.

"I can teach her to embroider."  Edith replied.

"That's a good gift, embroidering is a forgotten art, she'll like that."  Archie said.

"Anyone else have anything they can give her?"  Archie questioned.

No one answered so Archie said, "Okay, I think we covered all her gifts.  However, the rest of you who aren't getting her something, I want you to be extra nice to her and make her feel like she belongs here.  That clear?"

"Yes sir!"  The other grunts and Admins said together.

"Okay, now everyone who's getting her something should start looking right away because her birthday will be here before you know it."  Archie turned to Thomas, "Thomas, why don't you go get your gift for Sakura and I'll help her."  Archie suggested.

"Okay boss, I'll do that."  Thomas said.

"Meeting adjourned."  Archie said.

Everyone got up and left the room.  The people, who were getting Sakura gifts went one way and the other members went the other.  Now Archie went to see how his daughter-to-be was doing.


	14. Evolution and What's Going on?

Chapter 15 

"Evolution and What's Going On?"

Archie entered the training room and found Sakura still at it training her Mudkip.  Suddenly her pokemon started glowing and evolved into Marshtop.  Sakura looked at her new pokemon wondering what the heck had just happened.

"It evolved."  Archie said from behind her.  "It's a Marshtop now."

Sakura turned around and looked at Archie, "Okay, I wondered what happened……."

Archie smiled, "Come here, you!"

Sakura walked over to Archie and he embraced her since he was very proud of his daughter-to-be.  Sakura let her dad-to-be hold her for a minute, before she pulled away.  

Archie smiled at her, "I know it'll be hard for you to accept me as your legal guardian, but you can do it.  I hope that at one point you'll be able to call me your 'dad'."

Sakura looked surprised, "Most likely, but it probably won't be too hard to readjust……."

"I'm sure it won't be as hard as you think it'll be, but all the same, I won't push you until you're ready.  It was surprise enough when you were rescued and were given a place to belong."  Archie said.

Sakura nodded in response.

"By the way, the legal office said that I would be hearing back from them in three days, which will be on your birthday.  I'm thrilled that I'm finally going to have a child of my own.  I hope you don't mind what I've said about you……."  Archie said, smiling at Sakura.

"I really don't mind……."  Sakura said.

Archie looked a little surprised, "You just want to be loved and accepted, now, don't you?"

Sakura nodded in response and Archie smiled.

"One thing's for sure, I'm going to accept and love you when you become my daughter."  Archie said, taking Sakura's hand.

Sakura's Marshtop tried to get her attention, "Marsh!  Marshtop!"

"Sakura, your pokemon wants you…….."  Archie said.

Sakura turned back to her pokemon and it jumped at her, almost bowling her over in the process, but Archie caught her in his arms before she hit the floor.

"Thanks……."  Sakura said.  (a/n: She would have said, "Thanks dad", but Archie isn't her legal father yet)

"No problem, honey……."  Archie replied, while helping her up again.

Marshtop cried at her.

"It wants you to pet it."  Archie said, translating for her.

"Okay……."  Sakura walked over to her Marshtop and petted it on the head and it cried out in pleasure and nuzzled her hand.

"Aw…..  It likes you already…….."  Archie said.

"Yeah……."  Sakura replied, still petting her purring pokemon.

Archie looked at his watch, "Oh my!  It's already lunchtime…….  The others are probably wondering where I am to start the meal…….  Come on, Sakura, to lunch we go."

Sakura recalled her pokemon and followed Archie out of the training room and to the dining room.  Sakura and Archie entered the dining room and everyone stopped chatting and turned around, and looked at Archie and Sakura.

"Sorry, I'm late, I was helping Sakura……."

A couple of Admins, who hadn't had a chance to speak to Sakura yet, motioned for her to come sit near them, which she did.  Archie walked over to the head of the table and sat down, and the meal began.  Sakura tried to move some food to her plate, but couldn't because her arm was in a sling; so she had no choice but to call it a pointless operation to even try to serve herself some food.  Sakura let go of the spoon, clearly having given up, and sat back in her chair upset that she couldn't even feed herself without help.  An Admin named Matthew smiled at her and reached over and spooned some food onto her plate before he even spooned some onto his own plate.

"Thank you."  Sakura said after he had spooned the food onto her plate.

Matthew smiled, "Don't worry about it, Thomas told me what happened, and he asked for me to keep an eye on you while he was gone."

Sakura looked a little surprised when Matthew had said that.

"Don't worry, Thomas worries about you since you're new and also because he doesn't want anything to happen to his new group member."  Matthew said.

"He's right, Thomas does worry about you a great deal.  He doesn't want for you to fall back into Maxie's care."  An Admin named Taylor said.

Sakura shuddered and took a bite of her lunch.

"Maxie didn't treat you well, didn't he?"  Taylor asked.

Sakura shook her head no.

"That no good wretch!"  Taylor exclaimed.

"Let her eat……..  She really needs to eat, we don't want to lose her now that she finally has a place to belong."  Matthew said.

Taylor nodded and let her finish her meal before he continued talking to her.

"Do you miss your family?"  Taylor asked, looking at Sakura.

"Not really…….  They never treated me well, so I think I'm better off without them……."

Taylor looked surprised, "I'm sorry your family didn't treat you well…….  I hope that you'll have a better life her with us."

Matthew nodded and patted her gently on the back in a friendly manner.  In another ten minutes, everyone finished eating, and began waiting for Archie to deliver his famous end of meal notices to the team like he usually did.

Archie stood up, "Okay, I want everyone to go back to what they had been doing before lunch, but Matthew I want you to help Sakura train her Marshtop while Thomas is gone."

Matthew looked at Sakura, "Yes, boss……."

Sakura though Matthew would have preferred to do something else with his time, so she didn't look at Matthew.  Matthew could tell that Sakura thought that he didn't want to help her, so he put a hand on her shoulder to let her know that he didn't mind and that he had only been surprised with the sudden change in plans.  Shortly after that was said, everyone got up and left the room.  Sakura stood up, and Matthew took her good hand and took her back to the training room.  As they were walking back there, Sakura couldn't help wondering where Thomas was, but all she could do at the moment was to train her pokemon like she had been told to do, and to worry about that at another time.


	15. Things Aren't Always What They Appear

Chapter 16 

"Things Aren't Always As They Appear"

Thomas walked along the banks of a large river that was supposed to support a large Feebas population.  Thomas hoped that this was true and that he wouldn't have to let Sakura down, especially on her birthday.  After finding a good fishing spot, Thomas took out his fishing rod and cast it out into the water.  The first two times Thomas cast out it, he reeled in two Carvanha, which were certainly not the pokemon he was looking for.  Thomas continued fishing and it was a little over an hour before felt a medium sized tug on his rod.  Thomas began reeling it in, and much to his surprise when he hauled it out of the water; it was a Feebas.  Once Thomas saw this, he called out his Milotic and told it to use Water Pulse on the Feebas since he didn't want to accidentally faint it.  Water Pulse was enough to lower the Feebas' HP to a low enough level, that when Thomas threw a Net Ball, it caught it without too much of a fight.

"Good……  Sakura should be really happy with this pokemon, plus it'll turn into a part dragon that'll be immune to ice due to its water characteristic as well.  I hope that this pokemon will become one of her strongest pokemon……."  Thomas thought, picking up the poke ball and putting it into his  pocket.

"Now to get back to base and get it wrapped……."  Thomas thought, starting to walk back to their base.

~*~

Meanwhile, Matthew was helping Sakura train.

"For a new girl, you're doing really well.  If for some reason you can't go out with Thomas' group, I would willingly take you into my own for a while."

Sakura looked a little startled.

"Sorry, but I saw that you're a natural when it comes to raising your pokemon, and not many people have that skill."  Matthew said.

Sakura's Marshtop cried at Sakura for her to pet it, which she did.

"Marsh!  Marshtop!"  Marshtop cried, nuzzling Sakura's hand.

"Aw……   You've only had that pokemon for two days now and it already adores you……  I don't have that kind of affection towards me with some of my pokemon…….."  Matthew said, looking at Sakura with interest.

Matthew took Sakura's hand, and Sakura tried to pull away.

"Wait until I tell Maxie where you are!"

Arinia's eyes went wide, "What?!  But I thought you were a part of Team Aqua!"

"I am, silly girl, but I'm also a part of Team Magma.  I'm taking you back to Maxie now!"  

Sakura fought Matthew, but Matthew restrained her.  "Give it up, I'm not letting you get away!"

~*~

Thomas was walking down the hallway to the training room when he heard Sakura cry out in alarm.  Thomas broke into a run, and burst into the training room a few minutes later.

Thomas quickly sized up the situation, "Let her go, Matthew!"

"No way!  I'm not letting her go!  Maxie will be pleased!"

"You traitor!"  Thomas pulled Matthew off Sakura, "Run to your dad's office!"

Sakura nodded, recalled her pokemon, and ran to her dad's office.  Archie saw her and ran to her, "Sakura, what's wrong?  You're pale!"

Sakura stuttered and Archie hugged her, "Come on, sweetheart, you can tell me."

"Matthew grabbed me and said something about taking me back to Maxie, and he would have succeeded if Thomas hadn't burst in when he did!"  Sakura started to cry and Archie held her tightly.

"I'll take care of this……."  Archie lifted Sakura into his arms and carried her to his office, and walked over to a PA system microphone.  

Archie set Sakura down and spoke into the microphone, "Every available member, please report to the training room immediately, a Team Magma spy has been found.  Thomas is holding him off, but he needs help.  The spy could endanger Sakura if he's not caught!"

Archie hung up the microphone back up and held Sakura tight, "Shh…..  We'll catch him…….  I won't let anything happen to you……."

Archie continued to hold Sakura as many members rushed to the training room


	16. A Father's Love

Chapter 17 

Back in Archie's office Sakura had laid her head against her dad's shoulder while she cried.

"Shh…… It'll be okay……." Archie lifted Sakura up into his arms and rocked her a bit.

Sakura tried to stop crying but was still scared, so Archie continued to hold her as he walked over to the sofa in his office and sat down and placed her head in his lap and began to rub her back in an effort to relax her.

"Shh…… Take it easy, baby…… The others won't let any harm come to you." Archie told her, still rubbing her back. "And neither will I."

Sakura lifted her head and looked at Archie.

Archie looked at Sakura and smiled, "I know…… It'll be hard for you to adjust to call me your 'dad', but I know you can do it. If you feel comfortable give it a try, but only if you're ready."

Sakura thought for a minute before she said, "Okay…… dad……."

Archie smiled, "I knew you could do it! I'm so proud of you! I'm finally going to be a father; I had been married but my wife passed away last spring from cancer. I was heart-broken until I found you, and here we are a year later and I find this adorable little child that really needs someone to love and take care of her like I need you."

"Oh dad!" Sakura cried happily.

Archie pulled Sakura into his arms and hugged her, "Take it easy baby, everything will turn out well. Don't forget you have a birthday tomorrow, and that should mark a very happy day in your history."

"I know." Sakura said, leaning her head up against Archie's shoulder.

Archie wrapped his arms around Sakura and held her, while he hoped that the other members had caught the spy by this point in time.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Back in the training room Thomas was glaring daggers at Matthew for what he had tried to do for Sakura.

"How dare you try to take Sakura back to Maxie! We just got her away from him, and she belongs with us and not him!" Thomas practically screamed at Matthew.

"No she doesn't! She deserves to be a slave all her life!" Matthew yelled back.

"No she doesn't! She deserves to be a free child with the prospect of a better future!" Thomas yelled back.

"Whatever, but I will however tell Maxie where she is! You can't stop me from doing that!" Matthew cried.

"Think again!" Some other Team Aqua members cried as they burst into the training room.

Matthew whirled around, "You won't take me! I'll make sure of that!"

"Save your breath!" The Team Aqua members cried as they seized Matthew.

"Let go of me!" Matthew cried, struggling against them.

"Not happening! Sakura will remain here with us! She belongs with her new father!" Thomas cried.

Matthew glared at him as the other Team Aqua members dragged him out of the room to take him to jail.

"I'm glad that's over…… I don't want Sakura to be stuck in a situation she can't get out of…….. Now I better go see how Sakura is doing……." Thomas thought, heading out of the training room and up to Archie's office.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Thomas walked up to Archie's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Archie called.

Thomas opened the door and entered Archie's office and walked over to where Archie and Sakura were.

Thomas saw Sakura being held in Archie's arms with her head against Archie's shoulder.

"Aw……… How's Sakura, Archie?" Thomas asked, looking at Sakura with concern.

"She's fine, she's just a little shaken that's all, but Sakura and I have gotten closer now and she even called me 'dad' if you can believe that." Archie said.

"That's wonderful! I'm glad you two have gotten to know each other better and that she feels more comfortable around you, Archie." Thomas replied.

"Yeah……. Now what happened? Did you catch that spy that was endangering Sakura?" Archie asked

"Yes, we caught him. The other members dragged him off to jail, Sakura's safe now." Thomas replied.

"Thank goodness……. I didn't want to lose my little girl to Maxie after I just found her……." Archie remarked relieved.

"You're not going to lose her, the rest of the team won't let that happen. In fact they united in order to keep Sakura safe. They believe she belongs here and so do I." Thomas replied.

Sakura looked up at Thomas, and smiled.

Thomas smiled back at her, "Yes, you belong here, Sakura. I know you just joined, but you do. You fit in perfectly, you're going to be a great trainer once you get going, and we'll all help you achieve your full potential."

"Thomas, I'll trust that you'll keep a good eye on Sakura when I send her out with you. Please don't let anything happen to her." Archie said.

"Don't worry boss, I'll do my best to not let anything happen to her."

"Good." Archie replied, holding her tighter and then releasing his hold a little. "It's hard to believe that Sakura is so small yet is such a delight to have around. I'm so glad we were able to rescue her."

"Oh dad……" She hugs him.

Archie smiled and hugged her since Sakura had officially accepted him as her father. Thomas patted Sakura on the head, and smiled. Thomas was beginning to really like Sakura, and he had a pretty good reason too. She was sweet and was about his age even though he was two years older than her, and also because she had a way with connecting with her first pokemon that Thomas hadn't seen before and he thought that she was something special that should be kept under watch and loving care by her father. This moment however was broken by Archie's radio crackling to life, and Archie was forced to let Sakura go for a minute to answer his radio.

"Hello?" Archie asked.

"Boss, it's me, Michael. I just wanted to let you know that the Team Magma spy is now behind bars for aggravated kidnapping along with other charges for things he's done while in Team Magma. Sakura's safe now, no harm will come to her."

Archie exhaled, "Thank goodness, I knew you wouldn't let anything happen to her but I couldn't help but be worried."

"You were right, like I said Sakura is safe, nothing is going to happen to her." Michael said.

"Good, come on back to base, dinner will be taking place in an hour." Archie said into his walkie-talkie.

"Will do, boss, over and out."

Archie pocketed the radio and took Sakura in his arms again. Thomas smiled and looked on, happy that Sakura had opened up to Archie to let him in her heart.

"Thomas, boss, will Sakura have to share a room with some other girls or will that change since she's your daughter now?" Thomas asked.

"That will change, I'm going to give her the extra bedroom in my quarters that can be hidden by a bookshelf in case I need to protect her while she's with me. Of course the bookshelf is automatic and will slide in front of the opening to her room if need be, but I hope that I won't have to do that. I'll move her there after dinner." Archie replied.

Sakura laid her head against Archie's shoulder and just let her dad hold her, she was happy that she finally had someone to love, who loved her back. Just then Archie's computer beeped as a new message came through.

"Not again…… How can I take care of my baby if all these things require my attention……." Archie muttered.

"She'll be fine, it'll probably only take a moment anyhow. Oh Archie, do you want me to get Sakura's arm checked by the doctor to see if it's ready to be removed from the sling yet?" Thomas asked.

"Yes, I would appreciate that. I would prefer if she had both hands free to open gifts tomorrow." Archie replied.

"Then I'll do that. Come along Sakura, let's get your arm checked again to see if it's time to remove the bandages."

Archie released Sakura and Sakura stood up and walked over to Thomas and followed him out of Archie's office and up to the infirmary. When they entered the infirmary, the doctor hurried over to them and smiled when he saw Sakura.

"Aw, I'm betting Archie wants to know if her bandages can be removed yet. Let me see……" The doctor probed Sakura's arm with his fingers before he said, "Yes, her arm has healed perfectly so it's time to remove the bandages."

The doctor removed the sling from around Sakura's shoulder and slid her arm out of it before he unwrapped her arm from the bandages.

"There you go, sweetheart. Your arm's all better now, it'll be like nothing ever happened to it." The doctor told her smiling.

"Good, I'm sure her dad will be happy." Thomas said, smiling as well.

"I'm sure he will be. Now take good care of her." The doctor said.

"I will and so will her dad." Thomas said.

"Well it's dinnertime now, so you should head to the dining room for the meal now." The doctor said.

"Right, come along Sakura." Thomas replied, taking Sakura's hand.

Thomas led Sakura out of the infirmary and to the dining room for dinner. Everyone was there when Thomas and Sakura arrived, but Archie had saved two places at the head of the table for Sakura and Thomas. Sakura took her seat and Thomas took his, and Archie got ready to hand out his start of meal notices.

"Okay, this'll be short and quick as I only have one thing to say. I just got an email about ten minutes ago that all the paper work has fallen through and that Sakura is now legally my daughter." Archie told the team.

Sakura looked surprised, but was happy since she now wanted to be with Archie since he had opened his heart and his home to her since she desperately needed someone to love her. The team looked at Sakura and cheered since they knew what Archie and Sakura had each gone through in their respective lives, and also because they knew that the two of them would be happy together. Shortly after the news was announced, the meal began. Everyone served themselves some food and began eating. Between bites, Archie would look at his new daughter and pat her on the shoulder before he went back to eating. An hour later everyone finished eating and got up and left the room.

Before Thomas left the room, he patted Sakura on the shoulder and said, "I'll be available to help you train some more tomorrow if you want, but I have a feeling that you'll want to take a break since it's your special day."

"Yeah, most likely." Sakura said.

"Well let's put it this way." Archie said. "I want you to have nothing but fun tomorrow so I don't want you to train tomorrow unless it truly is a pure idea of fun for you."

"Yes, dad……" Sakura said.

"I'll see you tomorrow Sakura." Thomas said.

"Okay, see you tomorrow Thomas." Sakura replied.

Thomas smiled, and left the room.

Archie now took Sakura to get her nightgown from her regular room since Edith had put it back in there on her regular bed after Sakura had gotten up in the morning and went to train after breakfast.

Sakura entered her room she had shared with Rebecca and picked up her nightgown and left the room to meet back up with her dad outside it.

"Come on, I'll take you to my quarters, which will also be yours." Archie told Sakura lovingly.

Sakura nodded, and followed Archie down the halls of the base until they reached the door to Archie's quarters. Once there, they went inside and Archie walked over to the bookshelf and slid a book out and the bookshelf slid to one side revealing the room that was to become Sakura's room.

"Uh dad? Can I get out if the bookshelf closes?"

"Of course, baby, look here….." Archie pointed to a switch in the wall. "If it closes you just need to flip this switch and the bookshelf will slide open again.

"Oh, okay. Thanks dad."

"Get ready for bed baby, and get in bed. I'll be back to tuck you in, in a couple minutes and I have one little surprise that I want to give you." Archie told Sakura smiling.

"Okay."

Archie now left Sakura's room and hit the switch to cause the bookshelf to slide closed so that she could change into her nightgown. Sakura now changed into her nightgown and climbed into bed after hanging her clothes up on a hook. Sakura now waited for her dad to come back to tuck her in. About five minutes later, Archie returned carrying a little something behind his back.

Archie walked over to Sakura and kissed her on the cheek, "Oh my little baby……"

Sakura smiled, and Archie pulled the little something out from behind his back and gave it to Sakura. As it turned out, it was a Seadra doll that Archie handed her since he thought that she should have something to hold to protect her while she slept. Sakura wrapped her arms around the doll and Archie pulled the covers up around her and sat down beside her with the thought that he wouldn't leave her until she fell asleep. Sakura closed her eyes and Archie hummed a lullaby that his mother used to sing to him when he was little, and a few minutes later Sakura fell asleep and Archie got up and left her room leaving Sakura to sleep.


	17. Birthday Blitz

Chapter 17 

"Birthday Blitz"

The next morning, Sakura awoke to Archie gently shaking her awake.

"Wake up, baby……  Who's the birthday girl?"

"Mmmm…..  Me?"  Sakura said sleepily.

"That's right!"  Archie sat beside Sakura and helped her sit up and held her in his arms.  "My baby……  I can't believe my little girl is sixteen!"

"Oh Daddy!"  Sakura cried as she hugged him.

Archie let Sakura hug him for a couple minutes before he said, "Come on, baby, you should get dressed; the others are waiting to see the birthday girl."

"Okay."  Sakura said.

Archie let go of her and left her room and closed the bookshelf behind him as he left.  Sakura climbed out of bed and changed out of her nightgown and back into her uniform.  Then she walked over to the switch and flipped it and walked out of her room.  Archie was waiting for her outside her room, and when she emerged Archie took her hand and led her to the dining room.  As they reached the door to the dining room, Thomas approached Sakura carrying a little gift.

"Hi, Thomas."  Sakura said.

"Hello Sakura, how are you?"

"I'm fine."  Sakura replied smiling.

"That's good."  Thomas replied.

Thomas now looked at Archie, "Boss, when's Sakura going to get her gifts?"

"Right after breakfast."  Archie replied.

"Okay.  That's a good idea."  Thomas said.

"Let's go in now."  Archie said.

Thomas opened the door and Archie ushered Sakura inside.  All the noise died down when the rest of the team saw Sakura.

"And here's the birthday girl!"  Some members exclaimed.

"Yup, she's here."  Archie said, leading Sakura over to the table to a place where she was near him.

Thomas took the seat beside Sakura and Archie began his famous start of meal notices.

"Okay, you all know this, but today is Sakura's birthday.  She's turning sixteen today, so I hope that you'll help to make her birthday a special day for her.  Other than that, let's eat."  Archie said.

Everyone reached to serve themselves some food, and the meal got underway.  An hour later, everyone had finished eating and Archie stood up to give his end of meal notice.

"Okay, I hope you have Sakura's birthday gifts because the time has come to give them to her."  Archie said.

The breakfast plates were taken away and were replaced with smaller plates and forks.  Then the people who were giving Sakura gifts bent over and picked them up from beside them and set them on the table.  Just then Michael appeared carrying a chocolate cake, and Sakura's eyes bugged out of her head at the sight of the cake.

"What's wrong, baby?"  Archie asked.

"It's just I've always seen cake but have never actually eaten it."  Sakura replied.

Many members looked shocked as did Archie.

"Well you can't say that anymore since you're going to be able to have some in a minute after you open your presents."  Archie said.

The rest of the team nodded in agreement.

"I'll start this party."  Archie said as he handed a fairly large package to Sakura.

Sakura looked shocked at the sight of the large package, but Archie just smiled.

"Go ahead and open it, baby."  Archie said.

Everyone looked anxious to see what Archie had gotten her.  Sakura took the package and began opening it.  Once she had tore off the paper, she found a teal backpack packed full of other stuff.  Sakura unzipped the backpack and pulled out an item ball.  Sakura looked confused on how to open it.

"Just hold it out and hit the button and it'll open."  Archie told her.

Sakura held out the ball and hit the button, and it opened revealing a Blue sleeping bag with light blue bubbles all over it with a built in pillow.

"Thanks dad."  Sakura said.

"That's not all, there's still more in there.  See what else is there, baby."  Archie said.

Sakura reached into the backpack and pulled out another item ball and opened it and a large box of potions ranging from regular potions to Hyper Potions appeared. 

"Wow!  I've never seen so many potions………"  Sakura said surprised.

"I know, but they'll come in handy for you when you go out with Thomas."  Archie told her.

Sakura recalled the box of potions back into their item ball and set it on the table.  Then she reached into the backpack and pulled out yet another item ball.  Sakura opened it and a large pox of revives and Full Heals appeared, in such case that she needed them when she went out with Thomas.

"Oh my gosh…….  Wow……."  Sakura said surprised.

Archie smiled, "Yup and the last thing was that doll I gave you last night.  So you've opened everything in my gift."

"Thanks dad."  Sakura said clearly very happy.

"So who goes next?"  Thomas asked.

"I was thinking that you should, Thomas."  Archie replied.

"Okay."  Thomas handed Sakura his gift that was wrapped in some blue paper.

Sakura took the gift and opened it and found a poke ball.

"Go on, open it."  Thomas urged.

Sakura hit the button on the poke ball and a Feebas appeared from it.  "Wow!"  Sakura exclaimed.

Thomas smiled, "I'm glad you like it.  But that's not all, as the second part of my gift I'm going to help you get it to evolve into its next stage since evolving it is a rather tricky process."

"Thanks Thomas."  Sakura replied.

"No problem Sakura.  I'll always help you and you can be sure of that."  Thomas replied.

Sakura recalled her Feebas back into its poke ball and clipped it onto her belt.  Now Tom passed his gift up from the end of the table to Sakura.  Sakura unwrapped his gift and pulled out another poke ball, which she opened and much to her surprise a Spheal appeared.

"Wow!"  Sakura exclaimed. 

"I'm glad you like it, Sakura."  Tom told her from the end of the table.

"Thank you."  Sakura replied.

Tom smiled, "You're welcome.

Sakura recalled her Spheal back into its poke ball and clipped it onto her belt like she had done with the pokemon that Thomas had given her.  Now Rebecca passed her gift down to Sakura.  Sakura looked at it with interest wondering what it could be, then she started opening it and she pulled out another poke ball.

"Another one."  Sakura said surprised.

"Go on, open it Sakura."  Rebecca urged.

Sakura pressed the button on the poke ball and a Staryu appeared.  "Wow!"  Sakura cried.

"I'm glad you like it."  Rebecca replied smiling.

"Thanks Rebecca."  Sakura replied.

"You're welcome."  Rebecca replied still grinning.

Andrew now took his little package and handed it to Sakura.  Sakura could tell when he handed it to her that it was a little something, but she didn't mind since due to her past she thought that something beat nothing.  She looked at it for a moment before she started to open it, and once she'd opened it she pulled a blue hair ribbon out of the tiny package.  Archie stood up and walked behind Sakura and removed her bandana and took out a pair of scissors and cut the bandana so that her hair would fall through so that she could wear the hair ribbon Andrew had given her a couple minutes ago.  Her bandana now had a round oval in the back of it that allowed her hair to fall through.  Her father now put her bandana back on her head, gently guiding her hair through the hole in her bandana and tied the bandana in place on her head so that it wouldn't fall off.  Sakura now took the ribbon and tied it around some of her hair so that she had a ponytail and also had some hair still cascading down her neck.

"Thanks dad."  Sakura said.

Archie smiled, "It was no problem, baby.  Don't forget to thank Andrew."

"Oh, I almost forgot, thank you for the ribbon Andrew."  Sakura said.

Andrew smiled, "It was no problem, Sakura, I thought you could use it and apparently I was right.  I hope that you enjoy wearing it."

Sakura nodded. 

Now Edith said, "Sakura, my gift's a little different than the others since my gift is lessons on how to embroider."

Sakura looked confused so Edith said, "Embroidering is a form of sewing that requires that you use several strands of thread and a number of particular stitches to reach a completed project.  I hope that you'll enjoy my gift."

"I'm sure I will, thanks Edith."  Sakura replied.

"No problem, Sakura."  Edith replied kindly.

"Okay, so that was the last gift, so now it's time for the cake."  Archie said.

Everyone prepared to eat the cake when an alarm went off.  Archie jumped up and grabbed Sakura and pulled her close, "Everyone go see what's happening.  We'll have to continue this in a little bit.  Come along, Sakura, if this is a Team Magma invasion like I think it is, they will try to recapture you and I don't want to lose you to them so I'm going to hide you."

The Team Aqua members headed off one way and Archie headed the other to take Sakura back to her room that could also serve as a safe-way house for her in this situation.  Archie hurried with Sakura to his quarters and they went inside and Archie had Sakura go in her room after giving her a pokemon strategy book to read, and soon after Archie slid the book on the bookshelf back in place to make the bookshelf close and conceal Sakura's room.  Then Archie hurried out of his quarters to go find out what all the commotion was about.


	18. Wolf at the Gates

Chapter 18 

"Wolf at the Gates"

Once her dad had left her room, Sakura sat down on her bed and began reading the book her dad had given her before he left.  Sakura hoped that whatever was going on wouldn't put her in danger, since she had no desire to be Maxie's slave again.  Sakura looked closer at the book her dad had given her and saw that mostly dealt with water, dark, and normal type pokemon strategies.

"Dad takes good care of me……"  Sakura thought smiling.

Sakura started looking up the pokemon she had and how she probably should use them in battle.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Meanwhile, Archie and the other Team Aqua members were running towards the entrance to see what the matter was.  They reached the entrance and found a group of Team Magma agents being led by Maxie.

"Well, well, if it isn't Archie and his followers……  Let's make this easy, you give me Sakura and we'll leave."  Maxie sneered.

"I don't know what you're talking about, we don't have her here.  I turned her over to an orphanage after I rescued her."  Archie replied.

"You!  She belongs to me!  I bought her and she's my property!"  Maxie cried angrily.

Archie's face narrowed in anger, "She's a living creature!  She deserves to be free!"

"NO SHE DOESN'T!  SHE DESERVES TO BE ORDERED AROUND ALL HER LIFE!"  Maxie screamed at Archie.

Archie took a step backward, "Yeah right, she deserves to be able to have a chance to make her dreams a reality!"

"Like that'll ever happen!  When I find her I'm going to let her have it and you can't stop me!  Come on guys, let's go conduct our search elsewhere."  Maxie and his group turned to leave.  "Oh, and if I find out that you do have her, when I get my hands on her I might let her have it so bad that she dies!"

Archie was concerned but he was determined not to let it show lest he give away Sakura's hiding place.  Maxie and his group left the Team Aqua base to go conduct their search for Sakura somewhere else.  Once they'd left, some Team Aqua members followed them and secured the base entrance so that they would have a hard time coming back to search for Sakura.  Now that the base was secure again, Archie walked back to his quarters to see how Sakura was doing.  Archie entered his room and walked over to the bookshelf and slid the book out on the bookshelf and the bookshelf slid to the side revealing Sakura's room.  Archie found Sakura holding the book sprawled out on her bed asleep.  Archie walked over to Sakura and kissed Sakura on the forehead and gently eased the book out of Sakura's grasp and set it on her little nightstand.  Then Archie pulled the covers back and eased Sakura under the covers.  Once Sakura had been tucked in, Archie took a seat in the chair beside her bed and once he did so, Archie noticed that Sakura was a little pale.  Archie stood up and walked over to her and stood over her and looked at her, Sakura seemed to be kinda gasping for breath.  Worried, Archie reached out and placed his hand on her forehead, upon doing so Archie gasped.  Sakura had a fever again, her illness that she had contracted while she was Maxie's slave had come back.  The Team Magma doctor had been wrong when he had classified her as totally well.

"Oh my poor baby girl……"

Archie pulled the covers back and lifted both Sakura and her doll into his arms.  On the way out of her room, he grabbed her nightgown and slung it over his shoulder.  Then Archie left her room and carried Sakura to the infirmary.  On the way to the infirmary, Thomas appeared.

"Aw…..  What's wrong with Sakura?"  Thomas asked.

"I have no idea.  I found her sprawled out on her bed when I came back to check on her.  I hope she's okay……"  Archie said.

Thomas looked at Sakura, "Poor thing…..  It's no fun to get sick on your birthday."

"Only the doctor will know for sure……."  Archie said.

"Let's get her into the infirmary, if it's serious it can't wait."  Thomas said, ruffling Sakura's hair.

"Right, we can continue the birthday festivities in the infirmary if we need to."  Archie carried Sakura into the infirmary and over to a doctor.

Thomas followed Archie into the infirmary and looked on in silence as the doctor looked at Sakura.

"Poor thing…….  She's been sick recently and she relapsed back into that sickness.  I'm going to need to keep her up in the infirmary with me for a while until I can make sure that the illness won't come back like it did."  The doctor said.

"Right.  Knowing Maxie, he only gave her enough care to keep her alive so that she could still be his slave, and her still being a little sick would explain why she's so tired."  Archie said, looking at his little girl in his arms.

"Right, she's fighting off an illness, and unfortunately it chose to strike again on her birthday." 

"I have her nightgown here with me."  Archie said.

"Good, however I think it would be best if we got a girl grunt or Admin to change her into her nightgown so that we wouldn't have to wake her since she really needs to sleep."  The doctor said.

"I'll get Rebecca or Edith, depending on who's available."  Thomas said.

Archie nodded, "You do that."

Thomas left the room to go find either Rebecca or Edith, and Archie carried Sakura over to a bed that was in the middle of the room so that there was room to protect her if need be.  A few minutes later, Thomas returned with Rebecca.

"Aw, what's wrong with Sakura?"  Rebecca asked.

"We don't know, we think that she's relapsed into some sort of sickness that she's been sick with recently."  Archie replied.

"That's no fun."  Rebecca said.

Archie nodded and cradled Sakura before he set her down on her bed, "Do you mind changing her into her nightgown for us?"

"Not at all."  Rebecca replied, picking up Sakura's nightgown.

The doctor pulled some curtains around Sakura's bed and Rebecca walked behind the curtains and took the nightgown and gently changed Sakura into it.  Then she pulled the curtains back and Archie walked forward and lifted Sakura up and Rebecca pulled the covers back, and Archie slid Sakura under the covers and tucked her in and tucked her doll under her arm in hopes that having the doll would make her feel better.

Shortly after Sakura had been tucked into bed in the infirmary she stirred and woke up.  "Mmmm…….  Where am I?"

"Take it easy, baby…….  You're in the infirmary.  Your illness came back……."  Archie said.

"Great…….."  Sakura moaned.

"I know…….  Do you feel okay?"  Archie asked.

"Just a little tired."  Sakura replied.

"Good."  Archie said.

Now the doctor walked over, "Archie, I don't have a problem if you want to continue her birthday party here."

"Okay, though the team will all want to be here……..  How do we manage that?"  Archie asked.

"Hmm……..  I have a little bed that can roll, we can put her in it and take her to the dining room for the remainder of the party if you want, then I would like her to rest."  The doctor said.

Archie nodded, "Yes, that'll work perfectly, I think that'll be the best way to solve the problem at hand."

The doctor nodded and went to get the bed he had mentioned, and he returned with it in a couple of minutes.  Then once he returned with it, he wheeled it over to Sakura and together Archie and the doctor moved Sakura to the rolling bed.  Once she was on the bed, Archie helped her slide under the covers and tucked her in to help keep her warm.

"Mmmm……  Thanks daddy……"  Sakura said.

"No problem, baby.  As your father I will always take care of my baby girl."

Sakura rested her head back into her pillows and held on tightly to her doll, and Archie and the doctor began to wheel her out of the infirmary and back to the dining room where the rest of the team were waiting to continue the party now that the threat had passed.


	19. A Father's Care

Chapter 19 

"A Father's Care"

Archie and the doctor wheeled Sakura to the dining room, followed closely behind by Thomas and Rebecca.  As they neared the dining room, Sakura started to get nervous.

"It's okay, baby, you didn't choose to get sick, it just happened.  The team will be surprised that you got sick and will feel sorry for you, but that will be all.  I'll tell them that you're sick before we take you in so that they won't gawk at you so much if you'd like."  Archie reassured Sakura.

Sakura nodded, "Thanks daddy."

Archie smiled, "No problem, baby."

Archie paused for a minute before he said, "Oh…..  I can't believe that my little girl is sick……."

Thomas nodded as did Rebecca at Archie's words.  Thomas walked beside Sakura's bed and pulled the covers up some more so that she was snugly tucked in.  Sakura seemed a little surprised at how well her group leader was taking care of her considering that she was new to everything that went on in Team Aqua.

Archie smiled, "Aw…….  Thomas takes good care of you too."

Sakura looked surprised.

"And don't worry, I had him promise that he would do his best to not let anything happen to you and he's keeping his word."  Archie told Sakura still smiling.

Sakura calmed down and Thomas looked at Sakura slightly surprised that she felt a little nervous around him.  Though Thomas could understand that mostly, however he hoped that she would become more accustomed to seeing him around and wouldn't be so nervous around him as more time passed.  They now reached the door to the dining room and Archie stroked Sakura's hair before he entered the room to explain to the team that poor little Sakura had relapsed back into her sickness.  Whilst Archie was doing that, Thomas kept watch over Sakura until her father came back since he had promised him that he would take care of her while he was away from his little girl.  A few minutes later, Archie emerged from the dining room and came over to his little girl and kissed her on the forehead.

"Mmmm…….  Thanks daddy……"  Sakura said, her voice sounding somewhat distant.

"Shh…….  Rest baby, everything will be okay……"  Archie told Sakura lovingly while he stroked her hair.

"Archie, how did the team react to hearing that Sakura got sick?"  Thomas asked while looking at Sakura and how weak she seemed to be since the illness she had caught seemed to be in control.

"The team was shocked.  They couldn't believe that anything else could happen to her."  Archie replied, still stroking Sakura's hair.

"I think her illness is in control at this moment."  The doctor said looking at Sakura sadly.

"But can you cure her?"  Archie asked.

"I can, but it'll be a difficult fight for her and she'll need to get plenty of rest."  The doctor replied.

Archie sighed in relief, "That's good.  I don't want to lose her……"

The doctor nodded, "Don't worry, I won't let her die and I'll do my best to help her get well."

"Good."  Archie said, still stroking Sakura's hair.

"Let's take her on in."  Thomas said.

Archie nodded, "Yes, we should……  They're waiting to see her again.  Plus they're worried now that I told them that she got sick."

Archie and the doctor took Sakura into the dining room and Rebecca and Thomas followed a few minutes later.  As soon as Sakura was wheeled into the room, the team stopped talking and looked at Sakura, hardly daring to believe at how sick she looked.  Archie and the doctor wheeled Sakura over to the table and positioned her so that everyone could see her.  The team tried not to gawk at her, but that proved impossible since little Sakura seemed so very ill that they couldn't keep their eyes off her.

"Okay…..  The birthday girl is back, though this isn't exactly what you expected since she's very sick and weak."  Archie said, his gaze falling back on his little girl.

The team all nodded with their eyes still on Sakura.

"Mmmm, daddy?"  Sakura asked weakly.

Archie came over to Sakura and moved her so that he was holding her in his arms, "Shh……  Daddy's here, baby.  Do you feel like having some birthday cake?"

Sakura nodded weakly.

"Good, though first things  first…….  You can't have birthday cake until the birthday song has been sung.  Okay, everyone except Sakura sing the birthday song."  Archie said.

The team tuned up and started to sing and it went something like this:

"Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday dear Sakura,

Happy birthday to you,

And many more!"

Sakura smiled weakly after the team finished singing to her.  Archie now brought the cake over to Sakura and had her blow out the candles.  Then he took the knife that sitting near the cake and cut Sakura a medium size piece and placed it on a plate and brought it over to Sakura.

"Do you want me to feed it to you, baby?"  Archie asked her since she didn't appear to have much strength left in her.

"Mmmm, daddy?  Can you feed it to me?"  Sakura asked weakly.

"Sure thing baby.  Can you sit up to eat?"  Archie replied.

Sakura tried to sit up, but couldn't so Thomas helped Sakura sit up and piled Sakura's pillows behind her to give her some support while she was eating.  Now that Sakura was sitting up, Archie took a fork and cut a piece of cake off her slice into a bite-size amount and brought it towards Sakura's mouth.  When the bite was close enough, Sakura opened her mouth and Archie fed her the bite and Sakura accepted it and chewed it up and swallowed it.  Once Sakura did so, her eyes widened in surprise at how cake tasted like.

"Do you like it, baby?"  Archie asked her.

Sakura nodded and Archie smiled.

"I knew you would like it once you tried it."  Archie told Sakura as he gently touched her face.

The team now served themselves a piece of cake before they turned back to watch Archie feed his little girl.  Archie cut another bite off her slice and fed it to Sakura and she chewed it up and swallowed it too.  The rest of the team began eating their slices of cake while they watched Archie feed his little girl.  Archie continued to feed Sakura her slice of cake and this continued until Sakura had swallowed her last bite of her piece of cake.  As soon as Sakura finished eating, Thomas moved her pillows so that she could lay her head back into them and her father helped her lay back down and covered her up so that she was now snugly tucked in.  The rest of the team finished eating their pieces of cake at this same moment right after Sakura had been tucked in again.  The doctor came back over to Sakura's side and took her temperature with his hand, and sighed grimly since she now had a high fever.

"Archie, we must get her back to the infirmary, her fever is so high that it could cause her to have brain damage if we don't get it down quickly."  The doctor said trying to stay calm.

"Daddy!"  Sakura said, clearly scared.

"Shh……  Calm down, baby, the doctor knows what he's doing.  He's one of the very best, I made sure I hired a good one when that task came to my attention."  Archie assured his daughter lovingly.

Sakura tried to calm down but was still slightly frightened at what the doctor had said.

"And don't worry, baby, I wouldn't put you under his care if I didn't trust him myself."

Archie and the doctor now wheeled Sakura out of the dining room and took her back to the infirmary and put her back into her bed there, and Sakura snuggled down into her covers and held her doll tight while her dad sat with her, hoping that he could make her feel better with him just being there beside her.

"Mmmm………  Daddy?"  Sakura asked and then yawned shortly after she had spoke.

"Shh…….  You need to sleep; it's the only way to get you well.  Sleep will help you heal, and that's exactly what I want to happen since I want you to get better."  Archie told his little girl as he tucked her in some more.

"Mmmm…….  Okay…….."  Sakura closed her eyes and fell asleep in a few minutes, since she hadn't really been aware of how tired she actually was.

The doctor now left the room and went to get an IV and a couple of shots and a cold compress to help bring her fever down and to keep her from getting worse.  A few minutes later, the doctor returned carrying the necessary items and he brought them over to Sakura and set them on her bedside table.  The doctor now took the IV and her medicine bag he had brought for her and put Sakura on the IV, he then took her medicine bag and hooked it up to a stand.  The doctor now took the compress and put it on her forehead as her father looked on in silence.  The doctor now took one of the four shots and pulled Sakura's arm out from under her blanket and administered it, but Sakura didn't stir.

"My poor baby………"  Archie said looking at his little girl with love in his eyes.

"Yeah……  The poor thing, but don't worry she'll get better, I'll make sure of that."  The doctor assured Archie.

"Okay, good."  Archie replied sounding relieved.

The doctor now gave Sakura the rest of the shots before he eased her arm back under the covers.  Archie now kissed Sakura on her cheek and then sat down beside her.  Shortly after Archie had taken a seat the doctor sat down beside Sakura as well so that he could monitor her progress.  Sakura continued to sleep peacefully considering how sick she was, and to both her father and the doctor this was a good sign; though it would still be awhile until Sakura regained her former strength and could move on her own without help, though only time would tell for sure how long this would take.


	20. A Time to Heal

A/N: If anyone saw a fic called Nameless Girl, that fic plagiarized my work I worked so hard on. To the best of my knowledge that fic has been removed, thank goodness. This is the original fic, anything used without my express permission gets me really angry, and trust me, I don't get angry very often. I hope you continue to like what I write, and disregard any plagiarized stories that may pop up as a result of my works. I do not have the patience for plagiarized works, and I will always report them if I see it. So rule of thumb, please don't do it. It's not only inconsiderate, but it hurts my feelings and makes me think badly of the person doing it. Okay, enough said, I hope you like this next chapter:

Chapter 20

"A Time to Heal"

Several days passed, and in that timeframe, Sakura received both food and medicine from the doctor. Sakura appeared to be getting better, but she was still very weak. It seemed like Sakura was slowly beginning to conquer her illness and get better. At the moment, Sakura was alone in the infirmary, though the doctor had just recently left her and was due to return at any moment.

A moment or so later, the door to the infirmary opened and Archie entered and walked over to his little girl. Archie looked at his little girl and sighed, she just looked adorable while she was sleeping.

A few more minutes passed before Sakura stirred and woke up. Sakura opened her eyes and yawned and upon seeing her dad she asked, "Daddy?"

Archie smiled, "What is it, baby? Do you need anything?"

"Maybe some love if that isn't too much trouble…." Sakura replied looking at her dad.

Archie smiled at that before he said, "That's no trouble at all, I'm your dad so giving you that is what I'm here for along with making sure you're taken care of." Archie gently gathered his little girl into his arms and hugged her.

"Mmmm, daddy…. Thanks…." Sakura replied when she felt her dad hugging her.

Archie smiled, "It's no trouble, baby…. By the way, you look like you feel a little bit better, is that true?"

"A little bit." Sakura replied trying to sit up while looking at her dad.

"That's good." Archie said looking at his little girl. "You also look like you've recovered most of your strength, that to me is really good news. So how do you feel now?"

"I feel better like I said, I just wish that I could get better faster so I could do more of the things I enjoy rather than sleeping all the time…." Sakura told her dad with a sad sort of look in her eyes.

"Oh baby…." Archie moaned. "Don't worry, baby, you'll be better in no time, the doctor has done a great job and you look like you've recovered almost all of your strength. I'd think that you're nearly well…."

Just then the doctor entered, "That's right, she's nearly well. She's not well yet, but she is getting there. The fact that you got her to me so quickly when you found out that she had gotten sick is the main reason why she's gotten better so quickly. Due to this fact, I was able to immobilize her illness so that it couldn't spread anymore. I'd say that she might be able to go back to doing the things she enjoys within a week, maybe more, but I'm hoping she'll be better within a week.

"That's always a good thing…." Archie replied turning to look at the doctor.

"I'm just glad it wasn't more serious." The doctor began looking at Archie. "I mean if it had been then she would probably be here in this infirmary a lot longer that she would with her current illness.

"I'm glad I noticed it too." Archie began looking at his daughter. "I mean, I just found her and I would hate to lose her so soon after I just found her. That wouldn't be much fun to lose her before I could even begin to get to know her fully…."

Sakura smiled at her dad before she threw her arms around him and gave him a weak kind of hug. Her dad smiled and hugged her back.

The week passed rather quickly, and as it turned out, the doctor had been right when he had estimated her remaining stay in the infirmary for about a week. It was at this time that Sakura was released from the care of the doctor so she could go about her normal life without the ever-constant presence of needles and medicine everywhere she looked. Sakura knew they were important, but she personally didn't like them for some reason.

Shortly after Sakura had been released from the infirmary, Archie called his daughter to him and said, "Baby, I'm sending Thomas and his group out on a field mission and I want you to go along with Thomas. There is only so much you can learn within the walls of the base, the rest of which you'll have to learn out in the open with Thomas. He will teach you all of the things you need to know to become a successful agent in this team. I want you to listen to him, and do what he says. This is critical, Thomas will be keeping a close eye on you since you're still a beginner trainer. There is the possibility that you will see Team Magma members, but Thomas will make sure that nothing will happen to you. This is the best way for you to get hands on experience, and I'm sure you'll prefer that to the monotonous training day in day out in the training hall. Do you understand?"

"I understand, dad, I'll do what Thomas asks of me when you send me out with him even though I'm a little nervous and afraid of the possibility of seeing Team Magma members again…." Sakura replied looking at her dad with a slightly frightened expression on her face.

"You'll be fine, Thomas won't let anything happen to you, and even if it does he won't leave you to fend for yourself. He'll find someway to help you even if it endangers himself to do so. Now, I want you to go collect your things and then go find Thomas to leave with him. Go on…. And one more thing, remember that I love you, and that no matter what happens, I will always love you even if you fail."

Sakura nodded and reluctantly turned away to leave her dad, it was apparent that she didn't want to leave her new dad. However, she knew that she had to and that her dad thought that this would further her career as a pokemon trainer and would make her a better Team Aqua agent when it was all said and done. With this in mind, Sakura went to collect her things before she went to find Thomas to leave with him. Sakura found Thomas and went over to him. Thomas smiled and gently took her hand and led her out of the base along with the rest of the other members of his group. Sakura merely hoped that everything would go as it was supposed to and that nothing out of the ordinary would happen when she went out with Thomas. With these thoughts in mind, Sakura walked with Thomas and the rest of his group as they left the safety of the Team Aqua base to go out on the field mission that Archie had assigned them.


End file.
